Books, Online and Posters

Resources – References

It is our intention that the CCFMS be the go-to resource for rockhounding and lapidary for our CCFMS-affiliated clubs (located in Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec).

Check out our other resource pages: Resources – Museums, Resources – Collecting Sites, Resources – Educational and Resource – Incorporation

If you notice a broken link, please let us know in the comments section at the bottom of the homepage. Feel free to also explore the French Resource pages.

Reference Books for your Bookshelf and Knapsack

Rocks and Minerals

references

Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals

(1978). Edited by Martin Prinz,
George Harlow, and Joseph Peters. 607p.
This is a practical, concise and easy to use field guide. With two sections – one for minerals and one for rocks, each with a comprehensive introduction – it has more than 1,000 illustrations, 600 of which are in full colour.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals: North America

(1979). By Charles W. Chesterman, 856p.
This reference introduces the common rocks and minerals found in North America, with 794 photographs that depict all the important rocks, minerals, and gems in their many variations of colour and crystal form, and arranges specimens by similar appearance rather than by strict family grouping.

A Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals (The Peterson Field Guide Series)

(1996). By Frederick H. Pough, 395p.
A definitive guide to rocks and minerals, it was completely updated for its fifth edition. It includes 385 colour photographs showing rocks, minerals, and geologic features. Hundreds of minerals are described, with details such as geographic formations. physical properties, chemical composition, and crystalline structures

Beginners Guide to Rocks and Minerals

(2010). By Joel Grice. Canadian Museum of Nature 317p.
This highly detailed visual reference will show you:
– How to identify and classify minerals and rocks
– What you will need out in the field
– Various geological locations in Canada
– Physical properties of minerals and rocks

Fossils

fossil

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fossils: North America

(1982). By Ida Thompson, 846p.
The most comprehensive field guide about North American fossils, this is a must have for any fossil enthusiast’s day pack or home library. It features more than 500photographs organized by colour and shape, and is the perfect easy-to-use reference for any fossil hunting expedition.

The Illustrated Guide to Fossils & Fossil Collecting

(2020). By Steve Parker, 256p.
This updated edition describes what fossils are; how they fit into geological history;
where they can be found; and what studying them tells us about our natural world. The book includes an illustrated guide to more than 375 fossils, with over 950 photographs and illustrations.

Gemstones

gemstones

Simon and Schuster’s Guide to Gems and Precious Stones

1986). By Curzio Cipriani, and Alessandro Borelli, 384p.
This comprehensive publication provides both the novice and the connoisseur with a compact, easy-to-use volume describing more than 100 varieties of gems and precious stones. More than 450 photographs accompany the profiles of the stones,
which are complemented by information about gem cutting and gemmology.

Gemstones of the World

(2013). By Walter Schumann, 320p.
The fifth edition of this publication describes gemstones in their many variations. More than 1,500 full-color photos show them in their rough and polished states. Each entry describes the stone’s formation and structure; its physical properties; and
how it is cut and polished. Imitations and synthetics are also described.

General References

Collector Localities and Guides

Information for Collectors

(2016). By Ann P. Sabina, 254p., Open File Report 7869, published by the Geological Survey of Canada.
https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2026/rncan-nrcan/m183-2/M183-2-7869-eng.pdf

This publication provides amateur mineral and rock collectors with information on becoming acquainted with minerals and rocks; where to look for them; the
equipment required to collect them; how to care for specimens; and collecting in Canada. It includes lists of books on geology, minerals, rocks, fossils, lapidary, field guides, and geological maps and reports written for collectors.

Also see the collecting site books Ann Sabina wrote. You can find them on our resource – Collecting Sites page.

A catalogue of the Ontario localities represented by the mineral collection of the Royal Ontario Museum

(1977). By Jack Satterly, 464p. Miscellaneous Paper MP70, published
by the Ontario Department of Mines.
https://prd-0420-geoontario-0000-blob-cge0eud7azhvfsf7.z01.azurefd.net/lrc-geology-documents/publication/MP070/MP070.pdf

This catalogue provides a list of all of the Ontario minerals in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum at the time of writing, along with the locations where the minerals were found and references to documents describing the sites.

Online Rock, Mineral and Fossil Identification Resources

Minerals

Mindat
https://www.mindat.org

Mindat is the largest mineralogical database and reference website on the Internet. It is crowd-sourced, expert-reviewed, and curated for data quality. The database covers a variety of topics: scientific articles, field trip reports, mining history, advice for collectors, book reviews, etc. It has almost 400,000 mineral localities; over 1.5 million mineral-locality pairs; over 1.3 million photographs, and information on meteorites! It is an outstanding “go-to” website for researchers, geologists, collectors and the public.

Mineralogy Database https://www.webmineral.com/

The webmineral mineralogy database contains information about 4,714 individual mineral species. Much of the information is quite technical, and suited to trained mineralogists rather than to hobbyists, but collectors may still find information of
interest in this database.

Mineral Collectors Page https://www.minerant.org

The Mineral Collectors Page is maintained by the Mineralogical Society of Antwerp.
It includes an extensive collection of links to other mineralogy-related sites, as well
as drop-down menus to a range of other resources related to Earth sciences.

Fossils

Digital Atlas of Ancient Life https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/

This website is hosted by the Paleontological Research Institute in New York State. It is not suited for use in identifying fossils, but near the bottom of this page there are links to images of the sorts of fossils of the various phyla that can be found in
southern Ontario and Québec.

Gemstones

Gemdat
gemdat.org

This website is organized by the people who created the mindat website forminerals. It has 624 gem names; more than 525 gemstone data pages, over 3,150gem-locality pairs from more than 1,475 sites worldwide; and more than 8,100photos. It is a useful reference for gems and semi-precious stones.

Posters

Geoscapes

Geoscapes (Click on individual links)

https://www.cgenarchive.org/geoscape-canada.html
The Geoscapes are a series of posters and resource materials for use by educators and communities. They are intended to help increase awareness and understanding of the role of the geosciences in our lives. They were developed by the Geological
Survey of Canada in collaboration with communities; provincial and territorial surveys; and interested geoscientists and educators across the country. The titles below are linked to the Geoscape for that area.
o Canada
https://www.cgenarchive.org/geoscape-canada.html
o Calgary
https://www.cgenarchive.org/calgary.html
o Fort Fraser
https://www.cgenarchive.org/fort-fraser.html
o Montreal https://www.cgenarchive.org/montreal.html
o Nanaimo https://www.cgenarchive.org/nanaimo.html
o Northwest Territories https://www.cgenarchive.org/northwest-territories.html
o Nunavut https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2011/rncan-nrcan/M41-9-95-eng.pdf
o Ottawa-Gatineau https://www.cgenarchive.org/ottawa-gatineau.html
o Québec https://www.cgenarchive.org/queacutebec.html
o Saskatchewan – North https://www.cgenarchive.org/saskatchewan-south.html
o Saskatchewan – South https://www.cgenarchive.org/saskatchewan-south.html
o Toronto
https://www.cgenarchive.org/toronto.html
o Vancouver
https://www.cgenarchive.org/vancouver.html
o Victoria
https://www.cgenarchive.org/victoria.html
o Whitehorse
https://www.cgenarchive.org/whitehorse.html